                                PowerPage v1.32
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                             by Richard Fairhurst

                          (c) 1992  Robot PD Library


                            Advanced Instructions
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.0 CONTENTS

This document contains instructions on some of the more advanced components of 
PowerPage - such as clip art,  printing,  proportional text, and advanced text 
display.

2.0 THE OPTIONS MENU

The Options menu is  directly  selectable  from  the  menu  bar. When you have 
selected it, a list of the options and their current values will be displayed. 
These can be changed by pressing their initial letter. They are as follows:

Normal or Inverse (press N or I):  in  Inverse mode, white lines are drawn and 
text displayed is white on black.

Forward: the number of pixels that the cursor advances after each letter, this 
is usually 8 (the width of a standard character) but it can be less if you are 
using thin characters, or more if you want  the letters to be spaced out more. 
It can be from 0-15. Alternatively, when  it  is  at 15 press F to advance one 
more, and "PR" will be displayed -  this is proportional text. What this means 
is that each letter only takes up  as  much  space as it needs, and the cursor 
advances accordingly. So, for example,  the  cursor  will move further forward 
after a wide letter like "m" than a thin one like "l".

Down: the number of pixels that the  cursor  moves  down by each line. This is 
normally 8, the height of a standard  character,  but again, if yoiu are using 
thin characters or want extra spacing,  you  can  change this. For example, if 
you are using the SMALL.CHR font from the disc, you might want to use either 7 
or PRoportional for the Forward spacing, and 6 for the Down spacing.

Autoflow: if "No" is displayed, then  text  is  simply displayed on the screen 
wherever you put it. However, you can also make the text flow around graphics, 
so that a neat inset look is obtained. Press A to change from "No" to a number 
from 0-16: this is the number of pixels  between the graphic and the text. So, 
for example, if you select 0, then the text will be placed immediately next to 
the graphics: if you select 7, then  just under a whole character's space will 
be left.

Graphic: this lets you change the block  graphics produced by CTRL-A to P. The 
number displayed is  the  character  number  produced  by  CTRL-A,  and can be 
changed in increments of 16 from 128 to 240.

Mode: this lets you choose between  normal mode, XOR mode (where text/graphics 
automatically inverts whatever is underneath it), AND mode and OR mode.

To return to the drawing mode, press ENTER/RETURN.

2.1 CLIP ART

Clip Art can be loaded or saved. The  format  used is exactly the same as that 
used by the Stop Press program, so you can  use any of the many pieces of clip 
art available for that in  the  public  domain.  (Both  CPC  and PCW files are 
compatible). To load clip art, select  "Clip  art"  from the Import menu - you 
will be prompted for the filename which will normally have a ".CUT" extension. 
This will be loaded, and you will be able to position it by moving the outline 
around the page. (Note that the screen  only  scrolls down when the top of the 
outline is moved off the screen, so you  will probably need to move it down to 
scroll then up a little).  There  should  be  enough   room  on  the currently 
displayed screen for the clip art.

To save clip art, move to  a  corner  and  press  SHIFT+COPY. Then move to the 
opposite corner, so the whole area to  be  saved is enclosed in the rectangle, 
and select "Cut" from the Block menu.  Type  in  the filename to save the file 
under and insert the disc to save it onto.

2.2 HEADLINES

There are two types of headlines  available,  both  of which are selected from 
the Text menu.

a) Standard Headlines.

These headlines are created using the  normal  text font, in whatever style is 
currently selected (so italic headlines are  perfectly ok). Move the cursor to 
the top left of  where  you  want  the  headline  to  go, and select "Standard 
headline" from the Text menu. You will be  asked  to type in the text you want 
to display (finish with  ENTER/RETURN)  and  then  the  magnification. So, for 
example, if you wanted to  display  "Hello  world"  in letters which are three 
times as wide and twice as high as normal, you would type "Hello world" as the 
text, and enter "3,2" as the magnification. The headline will be drawn.

The headlines will be proportional if you have selected that option.

b) External Headlines.

These use Stop Press-compatible .FNT files, many of which are available in the 
public domain. Select "External Headline" from the  Text menu, and you will be 
asked for the name of the  font.  Of  course,  you can insert another disc and 
load it off that.

This option works in a  similar  way  to  the  "Text layout" option, described 
below. However, autoflow will not operate  on external headlines, and you will 
not be able to import text off  the  disc.  You  will also be prompted for the 
magnification. The fonts are 16x16 pixels  in  size,  so if  you  wanted  each  
letter to be four times as wide as a normal character and six times  as  high, 
then it would be two times as  wide  as  a headline font character  and  three  
times as high - so you would enter "2,3".

External headlines are automatically proportional.

2.3 TEXT DISPLAY

Although it is possible to  produce  a  page  with  just the normal text entry 
facilities, a far more  impressive  result  can  be obtained using PowerPage's 
"Text layout" option. This is accessed from the Text menu.

First of all, select the "Text layout"  option  from the Text menu by pressing 
"T" when you are on that menu. You  will  first  of all be asked to choose the 
type of formatting ("flow control") required. You can choose from:

  None - the left margin is straight, but the right one isn't (press N).

  Justify - both margins are straight  (micro-justification is used). The last 
  line of each paragraph has the left margin straight only. Press J.

  justify With centre - as Justify,  but  the  last  line of each paragraph is 
  centered. Press W.

  Centre - all lines are centered. Press C.

  Right-justify - the right margin is straight,  but the left one isn't (press 
  R).

If you have chosen "Justify"  or  "justify  With  centre", then you can choose 
whether extra spacing will be  put  in-between  each  word, or in-between each 
letter. Press W or L to choose.

Another prompt, "Restrict autoflow?" will appear if Autoflow is  selected.  If
so, press Y to restrict the automatic flowing of text around graphics  into  a
column, or N so that the text flows exactly around graphic borders.

The next thing to do is  select  where  you  are  going  to place the text. If 
unrestricted Autoflow is selected, you just have to put the cursor  where  the
text will start, and press COPY - the  margins will be worked out according to
what's already on the page, as the text flows around that. If Autoflow is  not 
selected, or you answered "yes" to "Restrict autoflow?", you will need to  put
the cursor where  the  text will start, and press COPY - you will then need to
move it right to the right-hand margin of the column, and  press  COPY  again.
(The column should be at least 32 pixels wide).

You can then type away into the  bottom  window - PowerPage  will  transfer it 
onto the top window when a line is  full.  You can use  DEL  as usual, and you 
should press ENTER at the end  of  each  paragraph  (twice to  leave  a  blank 
line). If you want to  use  embedded  style  codes  to  change to a  different 
style, press CTRL-X followed by B,T,I or U for Bold, Thin, Italic or Underline 
to toggle that style on or off.  When  you have finished typing, press  TAB to 
return to the main part of PowerPage, or CTRL-TAB to restart text layout mode.

If at any time the column fills up, then you will be invited to reposition the 
cursor at the start of the next column.  This  is done with the cursor keys as 
before.

You can also import text from an ASCII  file  on the disc (e.g. one saved with 
Protext's PROG mode). Press COPY  when  you  want  to start importing, and you 
will be prompted for the filename. Enter this, and the text will start to flow 
in just as if you were  typing  it  on  the keyboard. (Imported files can also 
have CTRL-X codes in them: if  your  wordprocessor does not support this code, 
then there is a program on  this  disc  to  enable this). Note that your ASCII 
file should not be produced with any  formatting such as justification. If you 
want to start a new paragraph, just  leave  a  blank line in the text, and one 
will similarly be left on the page.  You  cannot start a new paragraph without 
leaving a line when importing text.

When you have finished importing text,  there  might  be some text left in the 
bottom window, which can be put on  the page  by ENTER (new paragraph) or TAB/
CTRL-TAB (quit), or just type away as normal!

Options that you have selected, such  as  proportional text and autoflow, will 
be used in Text layout.

2.4 PRINTING

Printing is accessed from  the  Page  menu.  You  can  print  in Draft quality 
(prints each line once), High quality (twice), and Extra quality (five times). 
The routine is designed for fully Epson-compatible 9-pin dot matrix printers.

Your printer should be capable of  dual density bit-image graphics (most are),
and should be set so that  a  carriage  return  ONLY is produced on receipt of
code 13 (CR), and a line feed ONLY  on  receipt of code 10 (LF). Try the print
routine first, and if you have  problems,  look  in  your printer manual - you
might need to adjust your DIP switches or change the control code settings.

3.0 COMPATIBILITY

PowerPage will only run off an A:-drive, but files can be loaded and saved off 
a standard format B:-drive.

PowerPage is NOT compatible with  ROMDOS,  RODOS,  or  RAMDOS. It is, however, 
compatible with Serge Querne's  Magic DOS  (Robot PD collection AMS19) and the
MicroStyle program MS800. To use the Magic DOS format for drive B, simply type
"M" rather than SPACE after the title screen.

Some CPC disc drives have problems operating at the  faster  disc  speed  that
PowerPage uses.  If you  come across  this problem,  which will  show by error
messages  of the  type  "Drive A: disc missing",  then press "S"  rather  than
SPACE after the title screen.

The program is fully  compatible  with  all  CPCs  and  Pluses. (Thanks to Tim 
Blackbond, David Carter, Adam Shade and  Rob  Scott for 6128/Plus testing). It 
is not compatible with  external  ROMs  that  require  workspace for their own 
uses. If, when loaded, HIMEM is  too  low  (i.e. below 42619), then the screen 
will turn red and an error  will  be  displayed.  Press a key, and the program 
will try (in order) |ROMON,7, |ROMON7, |MAXOFF, and |ROMOFF,7 to turn all ROMs
except the disc ROM off. If this fails, it will simply reset.

3.1 ERROR CODES

When a file cannot be opened,  PowerPage  produces  an error code. These codes 
can be interpreted as follows:

  16: Bad command (i.e. illegal filename)
  18: File not found

4.0 THE END

That's all of PowerPage's features  described.  It might seem complicated, but 
after a few minutes using it you will realise that it's very easy to use - and 
produces professional results.

If you have a problem with  the  program,  or  if  you'd like to suggest a new 
feature for future upgrades, please  do  write to  the author (an SAE would be 
appreciated). The address is: Richard Fairhurst, 2 Trent Road, Oakham, Rutland
LE15 6HF.

Good luck!

Richard Fairhurst
Robot PD Library
17th November 1992
